UK severely unprepared for major cyberattacks, Government warns

Information sharing must continue, and stronger defences must be built, new report says.

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The UK is facing a growing cyber threat from hacker groups and state-sponsored players, and it's not doing enough to protect itself, and in the case of a cyber-attack against its critical national infrastructure, the consequences would be dire.

This is the message conveyed a parliamentary committee comprised of senior MPs and peers, who have urged Prime Minister Theresa May to appoint a cybersecurity minister in cabinet, someone who'd be in charge of building stronger defences.

Besides building stronger defences, the committee also believes continuing inflation sharing between the UK and EU member states should continue, despite Brexit talks.

The government has given its assessment on cyber-attacks and its effect on critical national infrastructure and considers it a 'top-tier' threat to national security.

“While we applaud the aspiration, it appears the government is not delivering on it with a meaningful sense of purpose or urgency,” the committee says.

“Identifiable political leadership is lacking. There is little evidence to suggest a ‘controlling mind’ at the centre of government, driving change consistently across the many departments and CNI sectors involved. We are concerned that the current complex arrangements for ministerial responsibility mean that day-to-day oversight of cross-government efforts is, in reality, led by officials, with ministers only occasionally ‘checking in’.

“This is wholly inadequate to the scale of the task facing the government, and inappropriate in view of the government’s own assessment that major cyber-attacks are a top-tier national security threat.”